


Cross Town Traffic

by 99bottlesofbeer



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, Reference to violence but nothing too graphic, This is my first fic so I'm not sure what to put..., mild panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28598868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/99bottlesofbeer/pseuds/99bottlesofbeer
Summary: Missing scene. Joe trying to keep it together as they escape the lab and head to a safehouse.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 14
Kudos: 130





	Cross Town Traffic

They’ve been driving for 20 minutes and still haven’t gotten out of the London traffic.

“What’s with all these fucking bike lanes?” Andy mutters to no one in particular. She’s grimacing and periodically pressing her side.

Joe remains silent. He’s already asked her two times if she wanted him to drive and he won’t press his luck with a third. She’s not above punching him in the face and he’s had enough violence for one day, thank you very much! Besides, he knows she needs something to focus on other than her pain and regrets.

The only conversation is his calling out directions and Andy grunting a reply, which frankly hardly qualifies. He’s trying his best to navigate them through the narrow streets and one way systems while simultaneously watching for tails and keeping his shit together. Another 10 minutes and they are finally out of London and making headway. He feels a bit of tension falling away as the skyline shrinks behind them.

He absently fidgets with his rings and his knees bounce incessantly as the last of his adrenalin burns off. He pulls the collar of his shirt and sniffs. Big mistake. The stink of blood, sweat, fear and pain makes him gag and he hurriedly cracks open the window. He wants to burn everything he’s wearing. Especially the jeans he’s been sleeping in for days and which are currently riding uncomfortably up his ass.

He looks over his shoulder to the pathetic looking group in the backseat. Booker has his sunglasses on (what a dick) and appears to be trying to melt into the car door. Nicky sits squeezed in the middle, hunched over and looking straight ahead with unseeing eyes. It’s too similar to the stare on his face after the back of his head was blown off. He gives an involuntary shudder. But Joe recognizes the 1000 yard stare for what it is. This is Nicky in full self-preservation mode, hunkering down behind his mental defenses. If there was a screen into Nicky’s mind it would be flashing “Technical Difficulties – Please Stand By”. As much as Joe would like to reach out to him, he knows all too well that it wouldn’t be appreciated. He watches him for a few more moments just to make sure the man is still blinking.

And then there is poor Nile. Only a few days into immortality and she’s already taken one of the biggest falls he’s seen. No wonder she’s slumped against Nicky’s shoulder, fast asleep and drooling slightly. Joe knows this dance all too well. She’ll have brief rest, a second wind and then a God almighty crash. Well, if he’s honest, they all will.

The car finally crunches up the gravel drive of the safe house. He knows it’s on him now. He needs to get everyone through the next 24hrs. in one piece. Andy’s injured for the first time in thousands of years and Booker’s a Grade A asshole who can’t be trusted. Nile may have proven herself an admirable addition to the team but she’s still new and has yet to realize the emotional and mental implications of immortality. Or put another way, she really doesn’t have a clue. And Nicky….well, he’s dealing with his own shit just now.

As the car rolls to a stop, Joe takes a deep breath and starts giving orders.

“I’ll check security. Booker, help Andy. Nile and Nicky, you get first showers.” Andy glares at him and is about to protest until she realizes that her muscles have seized up and she won’t be getting out of the car without considerable help.

They haven’t used this house as a group for years but Joe knows that everything is in good working order here. Had it been solely up to him, he and Nicky would have spent their year off at their very private Maltese villa, basking in the sun and having copious amounts of sex, wine and food (in that order). Nicky, his infuriatingly practical better half, had other ideas. So instead he found himself traipsing around Europe visiting their safe houses. Updating supplies, checking security and performing maintenance didn’t have quite the same appeal. That is until Nicky suggested that they fuck in every room of every house. God bless him!

Joe checks the perimeter once, twice, third time’s a charm. Probably over kill but given the recent events….

Fifteen minutes later he walks back into the house and is greeted by the sight of Booker sitting in a chair, bottle at his feet and head in his hands evidently still wallowing in self-pity. No change there then. Andy lies on the couch as a freshly showered Nicky kneels over her. His shirt is damp on his back and his towel dried hair sticks out at odd angles. The medical bag next to him is spilling supplies and there is bloodied gauze on the floor. Nicky is in his element. He has an honest to God medical degree from Bologna that he earned in the early 60’s. Shame he had to miss out on his residency to get dragged off to Vietnam.

Andy is wearing a pained expression and for a moment Joe’s not sure if it’s from her physical pain or from Nicky’s distant and detached manner. She’s always had such a soft spot for him. She reaches out and touches his arm. Nicky stiffens immediately but doesn’t look at her. Joe quietly clears his throat. She shoots him a questioning glance and he shakes his head. She gets it, of course she does, and pulls her hand back.

Joe absently rubs his jaw, remembering a time long ago when he tried to physically pull Nicky out of his mental shutdown. The man had a mean left hook that’s for sure. His Nicky is kindness incarnate…unless he doesn’t want to be touched. Then everyone better back the fuck off.

Nile comes back downstairs looking momentarily refreshed from the shower and dressed in various old clothes.

“Sorry, I just grabbed what I could find,” she says as she pulls on one of Bookers oversized sweatshirts.

“That’s what they’re there for. Besides, that looks better on you than it ever did on Book- Ow!” Andy groans and lets out a long exhale.

“Sorry,” Nicky mutters. “I’m done for now. Try not to move around too much.” He begins packing his supplies away.

Joe watches him in silence before letting out a sigh and feeling his shoulders slump. He could really, really use Nicky’s support right now. But Nicky’s so far away he might just as well be on fucking Mars. The image of Nicky dead on the floor flashes into his mind. He took too long to wake up. What if he hadn’t woken? What if that had been it? What if....what if….

Joe feels his chest tighten uncomfortably. His skin is suddenly two sizes too small. He needs to get out of here, like now. He briefly eyes the front door and a sudden urge to bolt takes hold. Run, just run, his mind screams! He’s still staring at the door when he catches Andy eyeing him suspiciously. He turns and heads for the stairs instead.

\---------

He rests his forehead against the tiles as the hot water bounces off his neck and shoulders. He wishes Nicky were in the shower with him but that’s not going to happen. Nicky may be the most giving and selfless man ever but he is still just a man. He has his limits and those had been exceeded today. If he needs to pull away for a while and get his head straight, Joe won’t deny him that no matter how badly he wants to hold him right now. He just wishes he knew how long it would take. A few hours? Days maybe? There was that times it took a few ye-

“No goddamn it! I’m not going there,” he growls at the wall. That was different, completely different! They were stronger now. Nicky was stronger now! He straightens, puts his face directly in the hot spray and pushes those memories back into the vault where they belong.

He washes his hair three times and uses half the bottle of shower gel but swears he can still smell antiseptic and gunpowder. He gives up and shuts off the water.

\---------

Back downstairs and feeling slightly more human, he helps Nicky finish preparing dinner. They are orbiting each other in the kitchen, each in his own space. Not talking, not touching and it’s driving Joe crazy. But the “Do Not Engage with Me” vibe rolling off Nicky at the moment is so strong that even newbie Nile knows better than to say anything.

Dinner is, of course, delicious. Some Italian concoction scraped together from dried spaghetti, a tin of beans and UHT cream that could have easily won Nicky a place on Master Chef. As it is, they eat robotically and in silence. Andy, with supreme effort, and probably a lot of painkillers, joins them at the table. But this is no family dinner or post-mission debrief. This is everyone on the brink of total exhaustion just shoveling down food after a fucking long day.

Nile’s head begins drooping dangerously low, threatening to put her face first in the remains of her pasta. Joe puts a firm hand on her back. With a sharp intake of breath she snaps to attention, blinking like she’s not sure where or even who she is.

“Go to bed.” He’s not asking, he’s telling and she knows it. Still, she gives Andy a questioning look.

Andy nods. “It’s alright. I’ll stay down here with Booker tonight.” Whether that is to talk to him or keep an eye on him, Joe neither knows nor cares.

There is an outrageously loud scrape of chairs as everyone stands. Dinner is officially over.

Booker helps Andy back to the couch as Nile disappears upstairs. Joe glances over to see Nicky just standing next to the table, staring down at his hands. He keeps turning them over, looking at his palms then the backs then the palms again, like he had forgotten what they were.

Joe takes a shaky breath. “You go to bed. I’ll clear up.”

Nicky turns and looks at him. Joe can see the exact moment his pale eyes finally focus. He blinks and looks at Joe, really looks at him, for the first time since they got in the car after the lab. There’s a look of momentary confusion on his face and his eyes glaze over once again.

“Okay,” is all he says before turning and walking away.

Joe let’s out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Well, it’s not much but it’s a start, he thinks and feels himself relax ever so slightly.

He looks around the debris field which was once a clean kitchen and sighs. He begins putting things away but is suddenly overcome by bone numbing weariness. The weight of his 900 plus years hitting him like a punch to the gut.

“Fuck this,” he grumbles and dumps everything into the sink for which Nicky will give him major shit for in the morning. At least Joe hopes he will.

\----------

As he enters their bedroom, he can see Nicky standing at the sink in the bathroom slowly brushing his teeth. The slight swaying evidence that he is practically asleep on his feet. He knocks gently on the bathroom doorframe. Nicky startles and meets Joe’s eyes in the mirror. He stoops to spit and rinse then turns and wipes his mouth on the back of his hand.

Joe thinks he will just walk past but instead Nicky takes one big stride towards him, wraps his arms around his waist and slams his body into Joe’s with a thud. Joe has to take a quick step back for balance before he leans into the embrace. Nicky’s face is pressed to his neck and Joe offers up a silent prayer to whomever might be listening. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!

The fallout from recent events is going to be a major shit show but he’s not going to have to face it alone. He’s almost giddy with relief. Joe can tell by the tension still strumming off him that Nicky is making a huge mental effort to be present, to be here for him and Joe tightens his grip just a little bit more in thanks.

Nicky lets go of him and all but staggers to the bed. He sits on the edge then flops backwards with a groan so that he is laying horizontally across the bed, still fully clothed, feet dangling just off the floor. Joe can’t help but smile. Ah, he thinks, the wall has just been hit.

He steps forward and leans down to unbutton Nicky’s jeans.

“Not tonight….I’m too tired.” Nicky slurs.

Joe can’t help the barking laugh that escapes his lips. As if! He fondly pats Nicky’s thighs.

“That’s okay big guy. Let’s get the jeans off anyway. Come on, hips up.” Joe manages to get them off with a few tugs.

Nicky scrabbles over to his side of the bed before flopping back down, breathing hard with the effort. Joe pulls the covers up over his legs.

He gently rubs Nicky’s chest. “Shirt on or off?”

“On.”

“That’s my shirt by the way.”

Nicky’s eyes snap open and he pins Joe’s hand to his chest. 

“I know. That’s why I’m wearing it.” He gives Joe a brief but blinding smile before his eyes flutter closed leaving Joe breathless and impossibly in love. He keeps his hand where it is even after Nicky’s grip loosens and his breathing evens out. Joe relishes the warmth, the steady reassurance of Nicky’s heartbeat. I’m here…I’m here…I’m here…

He stays crouched by the bed running his fingers through Nicky’s hair until his knees start to protest. He stands and tucks the covers around him. Nicky will have a dreamless night, his body and mind turned over to the deep healing needed after such a massive injury. The nightmares, tears, and sleepless nights can wait. There will be anger and guilt and all manner of fucked up feelings to sort through for all of them in the weeks and months ahead but not tonight.

He leans down and kisses Nicky’s forehead. “Thank you for coming back to me. I love you.” He whispers. He stands to go back down for one last security check. Before he switches off the light he looks lovingly back at Nicky, now fast asleep with a small smile playing across his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been reading so many fics here that I decided to add one myself. This is the first thing I've ever posted! Apologies for my abuse of commas. Please let me know if I've made massive grammatical errors. No one proofed this for me so that possibility is alarmingly high.


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